Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

Re:Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to do... by 0xEFF on Wednesday October 16, 2019 @12:42PM (#21272400)

Not unless your entity is 503(c) tax-exempt which is explicitly allowed by Google.

These “donations” are more like tips, which are treated as taxable income.

I don’t see the problem here. The outrage in this thread seems more about people wanting a different set of rules for OSS and possibly avoiding income tax than anything else. If there are a different set of rules for OSS, then that just makes it easier to abuse the platform. Google’s policy seems fair to me.

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Re:Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to do... by BlueTemplar on Thursday October 17, 2019 @03:30AM (#21279730)

Hmm, yeah, I guess that if we want patronage to become a viable economic model, then it will have to be taxed at some point... Since I mostly give to (AFAIK) tax-exempt entities, I didn't think of this...

But neither seems to have Google ! While the global license/patronage debates are already a decade old, and we have seen new companies get started and even established in this sector (Patreon). For instance this "donations" page only seems to cover non-profits ? https://www.google.com/nonprofits/offerings/google-donation-...

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Re:Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to do... by rleigh on Wednesday October 16, 2019 @01:51PM (#21273223)

"Tips" might well be taxable income. But that doesn't automatically entitle Google to a cut of them. Talk about a greedy land grab.

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